As part of its attempt to digitalise world history and culture, Google has struck a deal with the Italian government to post 30,000 Italian newsreels and documentaries from the 20th century online, many of which glorify Benito Mussolini's fascist dictatorship.
Google has dedicated a YouTube channel to the crackly news reports, which represent about a third of the newsreel and documentary archive held by Italy's Istituto Luce-Cinecittà .
The core of the archive is short films made by the Istituto Luce, which was founded in 1924 and which became a propaganda tool for Mussolini, regaling cinema audiences with tales of Italian industrial prowess and the oratorical powers of Il Duce.
Also included in the archive today, and available on YouTube, are newsreels shot by Settimana Incom from 1946 to 1964 which document Italy's economic miracle and paparazzi chasing starlets indulging in Rome's Dolce Vita.
"Italy's historic memory is now available to all through the world's most viewed online video channel," said Rodrigo Cipriani Foresio, president of the Institute.
One Google official said the deal formed part of the company's drive to "make the web the mirror of the world," from its digitalisation of Nelson Mandela's archive, the Dead Sea Scrolls and 33,000... Source/Origin >> Read More
